In Spite Of The Fact
by Palanquin
Summary: "Pony just had to accept the fact that his relationship wasn't — nor would it ever be — perfect. He had to roll with the punches and move on." Collaborative multi-chapter fanfic, written with MissSnarkling. Dallas/Ponyboy SLASH. Rated T for language and romance. Rating may be changed as the story progresses.
1. A Little Late

**Hello all! Palanquin here. ;)**

**Well, here you are. The first chapter of _In Spite Of The Fact_. **

**This is a collaborative fanfiction, written by me and my good friend MissSnarkling. Be sure to check out some of her work; she's a wonderful fanfiction writer, and she has plenty of Outsiders fics on her page. ;)**

**The pairing is Dallas/Ponyboy... If you weren't already aware of that. **

**Disclaimer: MissSnarkling and I do not own, or claim to own, any part of The Outsiders, or the characters named here. All we own is the story itself.**

* * *

Dallas sank back into the well worn Curtis couch and started tapping his foot in slight impatience. He was waiting for Ponyboy to arrive home from school. He didn't understand why the kid bothered on one hand, but on the other hand - which was just as important as the first hand - he knew it was because Ponyboy was going somewhere with his life.

Going somewhere and leaving the gang.

Leaving _Dallas_.

Dally shook his head and growled at the thoughts, causing them to cower in fear in the back of his mind. He looked at the clock again. If Ponyboy wasn't home in 15 minutes, Dallas was going to go look for him.

~.~.~.~.~

Johnny rarely ever went to school. He almost never did.

Pony didn't know why; Johnny could be real smart if he tried a little harder. But he didn't bother asking. And anyway, when he did manage to go to school, Pony made especially sure to walk him home. Johnny needed someone to do it, and it made for nice conversation, so why not?

Though most of the conversation was Pony pointing out the shape of a cloud, and Johnny acknowledging it. Something along those lines.

"Yeah, they're real pretty, Pony," the dark-haired boy had murmured, as they came to the door of the Curtis house. They had run a little late; staring at the sky and all.

"Hey Dally," Pony greeted, Johnny's greeting followed. Said blond greaser was lounging on the couch with his arms crossed. Dallas nearly smiled at the sight of his two favorite people together, but managed to keep his scowl on.

The youngest in the room broke away from his friend then, sitting himself down next to Dallas and kissing him gently on the cheek.

He nodded in acknowledgement to Johnny, and felt Ponyboy slide into the spot on the couch next to him, kissing him on the cheek.

"Man, what took y'all so long?" Dallas questioned, accusingly. Pony almost laughed at Dallas' use of "y'all". He was slowly beginning to transition from his usual New York slang to using stuff that the rest of the gang did, which was amusing at times. It was like his accent was a mix between the two; New York and Oklahoma.

Dally didn't know what could have held them up, be it a Soc or a teacher. But if someone was causing _his _Pony trouble, there'd be hell to pay.

"Sorry Dal, me and Johnny were just talking." Pony replied, leaning on Dallas a bit.

"Yeah, 'n Pony here was staring at the sky half the time, which slowed us down a little," Johnny added, grinning at the recollection. He was surprised that Pony hadn't run himself right into the street, walking like he had been.

Hearing both Ponyboy and Johnny's input, Dallas snorted. "What's so interesting about the sky that it takes you longer than it should to get home?"

Dallas wasn't happy, but he wasn't too mad, either. He kissed the top of Ponyboy's head gently, wishing that he had someone to be angry with instead of himself. Maybe he'd get in bar fight later... Maybe.

"I was looking at the clouds," Pony explained, as Dally planted a kiss on the top of his head, making him smile more. "The different shapes, and stuff."

Pony didn't expect Dallas to understand his fascination with clouds and flowers and sunsets and such things. It was nice to talk to Johnny about them sometimes.

"But... I'm home now," Ponyboy said, smiling. Dallas felt the over whelming urge to roll his eyes, but he ignored it.

"Next time, you think you two can hurry it up?" He asked, directing the question more at Johnny than Ponyboy. Though he wouldn't admit it, he loved both of them, and it worried him knowing he wasn't always around. He'd kill anyone who looked at the two wrong, and sometimes Dally felt like he just could not stress that enough. Johnny understood, but Ponyboy didn't. At least, he didn't act like it. Dallas wasn't sure what he expected from Ponyboy. An apology, or a promise not to ever leave his side again. He didn't know.

"Yeah, sure Dal," Johnny murmured, with a nod. He probably should've snapped Pony out of his trance. The young greaser did have a tendency to zone out at times.

"Uh-huh. Sorry we worried ya," Pony added. He could never really tell when Dally was worried; He wasn't usually, just annoyed. But he knew that the older greaser cared, he could tell. It was almost endearing. But it would be nice to have him drop his barrier now and then.

Pony could only dream.

"It's fine," Dallas mumbled, somehow finding his lips against Ponyboy's neck. Dallas let his mind trail off to God-knows-where and why before he snapped back to reality. "You going anywhere else tonight?" he asked both of them. He figured Pony would want to go to a movie or something, and in which case Dallas would have to go with them and keep an eye out for trouble. It also didn't hurt that he enjoyed spending time with them, though the drive-in wasn't his ideal setting.

Pony shrugged at Dallas' question, thinking for a moment before responding.

"We didn't plan on anything," he said, looking over at Johnny for confirmation only to see him shrug as well. Soda would be home soon, then Darry. There wasn't much they could do before dinner. He would have suggested a movie, which, would actually have been a good idea. But he would wait to see what Dally would say, see if Johnny had any suggestions. Pony always seemed to be the one suggesting a movie, and he figured that the other two must have something they wanted to do, too. Right?

Dallas didn't particularly want to do anything at the moment but have a smoke, but a quick check of his pockets revealed he was out.

"I'm heading down down to get a pack of Kools. Wanna come?"

Dallas shouldn't have had to ask. Ponyboy should have automatically hopped up, ready to go. But then again, Ponyboy wasn't like Johnny used to be; and he definitely wasn't like the girls Dally used to go with. So Dallas would ask patiently. He couldn't really say he minded.

Pony thought about the proposition. He did want to spend time with Dally, which he usually did, when he got home from school. But the idea of walking down to the DX, or some other small store so that the older greaser could swipe some cigs didn't sound so appealing.

_Hm,_ Pony thought, _maybe if I stay home I can catch the sunset._

Johnny might have wanted to go with Dallas anyway, or go to the lot. It would be just him and some colors floating in the sky.

Or he could even read, which he hadn't been doing so very often anymore, like he used to. Dallas was... Occupying.

"I think I'll stay here, if that's all right," he replied. If Dallas really wanted him to go, he would, of course. But he didn't count on hearing any objection, Dally didn't tend to show neediness...

Or any other sign of emotion other then anger, really, but that was alright. Pony didn't need a display. Usually.

Dallas eyed his boyfriend carefully, searching for something in his face that might indicate a different answer. Not finding anything out of the norm, he shrugged and pecked Ponyboy on the cheek. A smile tugged at Pony's lips when Dallas did so. He sort of wished that Dally could stay. Today was one of those days where Pony just wanted to cuddle, or spend quality time. But it was alright; Dallas had never been one to hang around just for something like that. He probably thought of it as pointless.

Standing, the older greaser ruffled Johnny's hair.

"Then I'll be back," he said, casually, as he exited the home.

Dallas decided that though he didn't want to be gone long, he really felt like walking, so he would take the long way to the store. It would give him time to think about whatever happened to pop into his head. Dallas thought about strange things when he was alone. It was weird.

~.~.~.~.

"So, what do you want to do, Johnnycake?", he inquired, already stricken with boredom. He wasn't sure whether Johnny was going to leave anytime soon. If he did, Pony would most likely just read or draw or do something of that sort. But he wanted to know whether Johnny wanted to do something or not. He was probably just as bored as Pony was.

Johnny looked at his friend for a second before responding quietly.

"I don't care. It's nice out today..."

That was as much of a suggestion as Ponyboy would be getting out of his older counterpart. Johnny didn't actually feel strongly enough to say he wanted to go outside, but it _was _in fact a nice day, and he figured if he mentioned it, Pony would take the hint and might take him up on the offer.

Besides, the sun would be going down soon.

"Okay then, let's go outside," Pony concluded with a small smile, lifting himself off of the couch. He wasn't sure where exactly Johnny had wanted to go outside, but figured he'd follow wherever his friend went. Anywhere would be nice enough for Pony.

"Where to?"

Johnny smiled slightly.

"We can go to the lot." he said, taking the lead as they stepped out the door, the sunlight hitting them instantly.

It occurred to Johnny that he was slightly glad that Dallas had left. Yes, he worshiped the ground Dally walked on, but the blond greaser just didn't get Pony the way Johnny did in a lot of ways. Like sunsets.

It'd be awful romantic for Dally to watch the sunset with Ponyboy, but he'd most likely just complain about how boring it was the whole time.

The sky was already growing slightly orange, and Pony would definitely be lying if he said he wasn't excited.

Of course, his train of thought was so off the rails that he conveniently forgot to grab a jacket. Which he would undoubtably regret later, when the air got nippy.

When they reached the lot, Pony followed Johnny to their usual resting spot. Pony hadn't visited this location in a while, either.

"The sun's gonna go down," the auburn-haired greaser murmured, stating the obvious as if Johnny wasn't aware that the sun went down at the end of every day.

"Is that so?" Johnny asked, smirking at his friend despite having tried his best to withhold the statement. Johnny stretched out, glancing over at his friend who was without a jacket as usual. He couldn't understand how the younger greaser always seemed to forget that extra piece of clothing when leaving the house.

Johnny guessed it could be worse, Pony could forget to wear a shirt or something. But Dallas might actually benefit by that. Or would he? Were they...? _What the hell, brain?_

Johnny shook away those thoughts as the sky grew into a yellow and red tint.

_If he gets too cold, maybe I'll give him my jacket._

The sky was already beautiful, and Ponyboy quickly made himself comfortable before staring at the sky with wonder; the colors dripping closer to the horizon with every passing moment. It really was nice. To be watching a sunset again. And the sky's beauty distracted him from the cold that was biting his bare arms. He wished that Dally was here, it would give him an excuse to get closer to him. The cold, that is. Dally wasn't much of a snuggler unless he was absolutely needed.

But it was nice to spend some time with Johnny, too. He sure was good at listening, and watching. Pony wasn't sure if the older greaser really enjoyed sunsets as much as he did, but it was nice that he actually took the time to do these things with him.

"That's beautiful..." Ponyboy mumbled, under his breath, as the sun dropped closer to the horizon, making the sky's pinkish-reddish-orangish hues intensify. He was hugging himself now, rubbing his arms to fight off the coldness as best as he could.

Johnny didn't attempt to hide the large grin that spread over his face as he watched the colors fade and dissipate. He just knew that Pony was practically hypnotized with the colors dancing in the sky. This was the best part. When the sun was almost completely hidden by the horizon, it was like every color in the sky doubled in intensity, and flared more wildly. It was like the universe was saving the best for last.

It was no secret that Ponyboy absolutely loved sunsets, but Johnny liked them pretty well too. The colors were just so pretty. He loved colors. So it made sense that he preferred rainbows over sunsets, but to others it just appeared he was a depressed kid who loved rain. Well... He did like rain too...

A shiver from Pony made the older male look over. Rolling his eyes, the trace of a smile still touching his lips, Johnny tugged his jacket off. "Here, Pone."

Johnny spoke suddenly, which made Pony snap out of his trance. He had almost forgotten that his friend was there.

Now he was holding out his jeans jacket to him. Had his being cold really been that obvious? Noting his current position, he decided that yes, yes it was.

"Johnny, you don't have to-,"

He started to protest, though the dark-haired greaser had already tossed the jacket into his lap. Wouldn't he be cold, too?

Pony put the jacket on anyway, and though it didn't fit quite right, the increased warmth he got from it was unquestionable.

It didn't take long after that for the sun to sink completely beneath the horizon, taking all color away with it.

"Thanks Johnny," Pony said, turning to face his friend after a little while of letting the darkness soak into the sky. "I mean, for watching, and giving me your jacket," he added, a grateful grin still on his face.

Johnny gave his friend a shy smile. Pony shouldn't have to thank him, they were best friends. It was practically his _duty_ to do things such as this. Well, he had to admit, the jacket thing might have been taking things a bit farther than necessary, but Ponyboy was cold, and Johnny didn't end up needing it after all.

"Ready to go?" he whispered softly, remembering that they'd been gone a while now. It hadn't been too long, but a considerable amount of time had passed, and Dallas might be back at the house by then.

Pony nodded, realizing that it was pretty dark out. Darry might have been home as well, though Soda might be out with Steve or someone else at that time. Who knew? His brothers could be elusive creatures at times.

"Sure, let's head back," he replied, stretching for a quick second before lifting himself up off of the grass. He waited a moment for Johnny, then started making his way back to his house.

~.~.~.~.~.

Dallas leaned against the porch, smoking his cigarette casually. Upon returning with his newly stolen cancer sticks, he had found the house empty. He didn't know where the two youngest greasers went, and he didn't want to go looking in case they were on there way back. At the moment he was just working on calming down. Ponyboy said his temper was too much. It was true, he got angry a lot. That was his fatal flaw. He was working on it, though. For Pony.

Pacing for a moment, his eyes flicked over to the right and caught sight of Johnny's black hair. Bounding off the front steps, Dallas watched the two walk slowly towards him, Ponyboy wrapped in Johnny's denim jacket.

The first thing the two of them saw when they reached the house was Dally, moving to meet them in front of the house. From the look on his face, Pony could tell that he wasn't too happy with their late return time.

"Hey Dally," he greeted, and Johnny echoed with a similar greeting. Both of them seemed to be waiting for some sort of "where were you?" or "why were you out so long?".

Pony stepped forward and took some of the older greaser's shirt fabric in his hands, tugging on it lightly for a moment as he usually did before looking up at him. His expression changed slightly, however, as he saw a tenseness in Dallas' countenance.

He wasn't mad at him, was he? Well, Dally had a tendency to be mad at everything, including Pony, at times. So the thought wasn't too shocking.

Dallas wanted to go off, to cuss up a storm a demand to know why in the hell he wasn't informed they would be leaving. But he didn't want to get too mad.

"Where did you two go?", he forced out, frustrated. His tone was heavy and laced with anger, and it made Pony step back from where he was previously standing. The older male was staring daggers into his emerald eyes, which were slowly losing their content, "sunset-watcher" sheen.

"Just to the lot, Dal," Johnny answered for Pony, who was clearly becoming upset. Johnny couldn't help but feel bad. Pony had really been enjoying himself; now it was clear that his joy was slowly evaporating. Maybe he shouldn't have suggested they watch the sunset.

Maybe Dallas shouldn't get so angry so often.

"Yeah. Just to the lot," Pony confirmed, after a short moment of silence.

After being informed of their previous whereabouts, Dallas somehow only grew angrier. He lifted his hand to latch onto Ponyboy, causing the young greaser's eyes to widen. He quickly backed away, before Dallas dropped his hand quickly and whirled around, running his other hand through his hair while directing his glare at the front door. He needed to calm down, they hadn't actually done anything wrong, and Dally didn't know why he was acting like this.

He frowned and inhaled deeply, letting out an audible, shaky breath.

If anything, Pony was flat-out frightened, and as he was turning to examine Johnny's reaction to all of this Dallas turned, stepping forward and snatching the younger greaser up in a bruising kiss.

It ended as quickly as it had started, and soon Dally was resting his own forehead against Pony's, murmuring the words "I'm sorry," against his lips.

Pony's heart had sped up in the moment of Dallas' many frightening mood swings, and his wide-eyed gaze was directed at the older greaser's chest rather then his eyes. He was getting upset. Scared and frustrated and upset.

There was a moment of lingering silence before Pony spoke up to his boyfriend's hushed apology.

"Okay," he murmured, his voice presenting itself just as quietly as Dally's had. He almost wanted to yell at the older greaser, for being so irrational, but of course Pony didn't do that. He both couldn't, and didn't want to.

All Dally did was freak out. Maybe he could go _with_ Pony, for once. Maybe then he wouldn't have a reason to go insane, and scare the fuck out of his boyfriend.

Johnny felt extremely out of place, and though he almost wanted to watch and see what was going to happen next, he felt it would be best if he slinked away now. He'd just go back to the lot; then maybe he'd return when things calmed down. _If_ things calmed down.

Pony could just hang onto his jacket for the night.

"Let's go inside, it's freezing out here," Dallas said, his voice a bit louder than necessary.

He wanted to feel normal again. Wanted everything to just be good. He had somehow fucked up tonight, but he'd be damned if he didn't try to fix it.

He walked ahead of Ponyboy and headed for his bedroom, flopping on his bed and stretching his limbs out. Fortunately, it wouldn't be too awkward if Soda returned home and found the two of them on the bed, what with how innocent Ponyboy was. Or... _Acted,_ as the case could appear at times.

Dallas wasn't in the mood to do anything right then, anyway.

Ponyboy noted the fact that Johnny had vanished to who-knows-where, and though he somewhat wished he had at least went inside to keep out of the cold, he understood why the dark-haired greaser had left. He would have left too, if he were Johnny.

But... Wait. _He didn't have a jacket... _

He almost wanted to get the jacket back to Johnny, knowing he would be cold, but Pony could tell that Dally wasn't interested in being run-out on at that moment.

Pony slid next to him on the bed, silently. After he got settled, he took a deep breath, letting it out with a sigh.

The younger greaser turned himself to look at Dallas. He was clearly still stressed; probably over the fact that he had just made a fool out of himself. Or maybe not a fool; maybe just a man who didn't think about what he was about to do before he did it.

"You're so spazzy..." Pony murmured, softly, and with that he pressed his lips onto Dally's. The kiss wasn't violent like the one Pony had received moments earlier, nor was delicate. It was just a lingering kiss, plain and simple, because Dally wanted things to be normal and so did Pony. It was nothing more then a reminder that everything was fine.

When Pony pulled back from the kiss, Dallas sighed, feeling a heavy weight he assumed was guilt. "Spazzy? The fuck does that mean?" he didn't ask it rudely, obnoxiously, or loudly. He was far to embarrassed by his earlier display of complete idiocy to put anything into his tone other than his tiredness.

Ponyboy almost rolled his eyes, though he refrained from doing so. He almost replied with "Look it up," or something more like "To be spazz-like; a trait one carries when classified as a _spazz,_".

But he didn't. Just sighed and kept his mouth shut because answering wasn't going to really affect anything.

Pony tended to hold grudges, and he didn't want to do that in this case, because he knew that it would probably end badly. Dallas was irritating and impatient and angry all the time; but he loved Pony. Even if half the time he didn't show it, even if he didn't watch sunsets with him or cuddle or kiss him as much as Pony wanted. He loved him.

And Pony just had to accept that his relationship wasn't — nor would it ever be — perfect.

He had to roll with the punches and move on.

Dallas leaned up on his elbows, examining his boyfriend before him. Sweet... Innocent, intelligent... Definitely going somewhere in life.

Ponyboy was also the most attractive partner he had ever had, or could ever even think of having; and yet he somehow always seemed to do something to screw up the best thing that had ever happened to him. Dally grabbed Pony's hand, running his thumb along his knuckles, stroking them in gentle motions. Pony liked when Dallas touched him. His face, his hands, his anywhere. It was like a connection, in his eyes. It _meant_ something.

Because when Dallas Winston, the toughest hood in Tulsa, plays with your hands... That _means_ something.

Pony stopped Dallas' strokes, letting his fingers fit between his to even the score. He wasn't saying anything; just staring into blue eyes that were cold as ice. Ice that was slowly beginning to melt.

Dallas broke the silence, after a short moment.

"Okay... Why are you wearing Johnny's jacket?", he asked, curiously. He wasn't too terribly upset. He trusted Johnny.

He had loved Johnny - though in a much different way, mind you - before he loved Ponyboy.

And he was learning to trust Pony.

How awful was that?

He couldn't trust one of the sweetest guys on the planet. It came with the territory of being one of the toughest hoods in Tulsa... He tried, though.

His biggest problem was just acting before thinking and his damn anger issues.

"We went outside to watch the sunset... I forgot a jacket. He saw I was cold and gave me his," Pony answered, bluntly. He could get to the point when he wanted to. Most of the time, though, he didn't. He saw fun in lingering on an idea and giving an entire speech on how his walk home from school was.

Only... Maybe he didn't see it as fun. Maybe he just did it without realizing.

Dallas nodded in understanding. Yep, sounded like Johnny. Dallas knew that the gang sometimes took Johnny for granted. He was a great friend and a decent kid. Not as bright as Ponyboy, but he could be just as much of a smart-ass, no doubt.

Dallas felt a small crooked smile fall onto his lips at the thought. He knew that before he had started dating Pony, he wouldn't have given him his jacket. Johnny was just such a good buddy that he'd offer his only jacket to his absent-minded friend. It was nice knowing that Dallas wouldn't have to worry about Ponyboy; someone would always be watching on him, protecting him, however subtly it may be.

_Though, Dallas would probably worry anyway..._

"You and your sunsets."

* * *

**Author's Note: **

**Well? What did you think? :) **

**Reviews are greatly appreciated; feel free to give us any comments or critique you have about the story thus far! **

**Currently, we have **_**pre-written**_** 2 upcoming chapters. The second chapter should be posted within a week or so. :3**

**Here's a little sneak-peek... Pony get's a gift in the next chapter. ;)**

**I hope you enjoyed!**

**~ Palanquin**


	2. Pleasant Surprises and Happy Endings

**Well, here it is, finally! In Spite Of The Fact: Chapter 2! ;D**

**Me and MissSnarkling both hope that you enjoy this chapter. ^^ We've been working really hard on writing future chapters up for you guys, so be prepared for lots more, soon-to-come! **

**Well, that's pretty much all I have to say. Enjoy the read! :)**

**Oh, and yeah. I still don't own The Outsiders. Unfortunately. **

* * *

Pony had gotten home from school not long ago. For once, Dallas wasn't there waiting for him when he walked through the door, which was different. But Pony didn't mind. He saw that Johnny was there instead. And Soda was, too. Though Soda wasn't there for long; in fact, as soon as Pony walked through the door, Soda was walking out. Just a simple, "Hey Pony, how was school?" and he was gone, without even waiting for an answer. Pony smiled at his brother.

"Hey Johnnycake," Pony greeted, sitting next to his friend on the couch. His denim jacket was back on his figure, as the auburn-haired greaser had felt guilty and begged his brothers to let him go return it early that morning.

Meanwhile, Dallas hurried up the front steps, hoping Ponyboy was in the mood to see a movie. He paused for a moment, staring blankly at the door.

_Is Pony ever _not _in the mood to see a movie? _

After contemplating this for a moment longer, he shook the thought away and opened the door, stepping through to reveal his two favorite people.

"Hey, there's a new Paul Newman movie in. 'Harper' is what it's called, I think; you two wanna go see it?", he offered. He had decided that maybe the best way to apologize to Ponyboy would be to take him out to a movie. Because, well, it was Ponyboy, after all. Plus, this way, it would be like a date. Johnny wouldn't be bothersome. Not at all. He could even be beneficial, to further illustrate to any curious onlookers that they were all perfectly heterosexual.

Heterosexual. _Is that the right word?_

Dallas was about to ask Pony, but he decided against it.

"Sure Dally, sounds good," Pony replied, and Johnny agreed with a shrug and nod. Pony supposed it would be nice to spend time with Dally. Even if it was spent at the theatre, with other people all around him. It was better then nothing. And Pony would also get to enjoy the movie, which was an added bonus.

Johnny and Pony both got up and followed Dallas out the door, making their way toward the theatre.

~.~.~.~.~.~

Dallas was glad that they had agreed to see the movie. He knew it must have been a bit shocking, considering he preferred to wait to go to the drive in, but he wanted this to be special. Dally had borrowed some money from Buck last night to pay for the movie, among other things. If his plan didn't work, he might tear his hair out.

But it would. It was simple.

Have a nice day with the guys, and give Ponyboy his gift.

Pony walked silently beside Dallas, leaning on him only slightly.

It was needless to say that he and Dallas couldn't be very... _Couple-like_, in anyplace public. He didn't mind.

Well… Not much, anyway. It was what they had to do.

The walk was fairly quiet, beside the occasional question about the movie or something of the sort. When they arrived at the theatre, Pony pulled money out of his pocket immediately, though was surprised to find that Dallas had payed for him. He was about to hand his money to Johnny, but Dallas handed them both tickets before proceeding into the theatre.

The two youngest exchanged glances once more. It wasn't normal Dally, though both boys had a feeling that his actions had something to do with what had happened the night before. His uncharacteristic kindness made Pony smile, and he nudged Dally in thanks.

"Thanks Dal," he murmured, and Johnny echoed his words. The blonde nodded curtly at their thanks and they all found seats away from the rest of the movie goers.

Dallas could feel his nerves acting up, and he hoped he wouldn't flip out during the movie. Indoor movies were different from drive in movies. Talking wasn't tolerated, for one thing. Neither was smoking.

The older greaser tapped his foot anxiously as he waited for the movie to start. _Relax, _he ordered himself. He leaned back into his seat, and quickly afterwards grabbed Pony's hand, causing the shadow of a smile to grace the younger teen's lips. His hands were warm, they always were, and Pony squeezed it once before using his thumb to rub circles in Dally's palm.

Dally looked around, cautiously. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary, which was reassuring.

It was a dark movie theater, people could seriously just fuck off.

_I should be allowed to hold Pony's hand if I want to_, he reasoned.

~.~.~.~.~.~

When the movie finally ended, Dallas couldn't be happier to stand up and stretch his legs. He also felt like he needed a cigarette, and badly. Seeing a movie was a great idea when your boyfriend likes them; not such a good idea when you can't sit still while around strange people. Dallas didn't immediately register that he still had Ponyboy's hand in his own; perhaps because when you hold hands with someone throughout an entire movie, you just get used to the feeling of their hand being there. When he did, however, he retracted it instantly and looked around regretfully.

Luckily, it appeared as though no one had seen.

… But he couldn't be sure.

"Where to, Dal?" Johnny asked, cautiously, as they got onto the streets.

Dally glanced over at Johnny, and then at Ponyboy before answering.

"We could head over to the Dingo if you guys want too." he said, shrugging.

Ponyboy resisted the urge to make a face, as he lit up a cigarette. He didn't favor that place, not in the least. It was always really obnoxiously loud, and fights tended to break out constantly; not to mention that it could be dangerous at times. So he tended to avoid it.

But Pony figured that he'd go anyway. Dallas enjoyed it; and hell, he had sat through a movie for him, right? An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

"Sure, let's go," Pony responded, cig between his lips, and Johnny shrugged in agreement. Johnny had a tendency to follow Dally there on occasion anyway, so it was no problem for him.

Dallas smirked as Ponyboy agreed and he continued leading them to the place in question. Becoming bored with the seemingly endless silence, Dally tried to start up a conversation.

"Socs pull anything at school?" he asked, casually, as they neared their destination. Dallas reached inside his pocket, counting up his money to see how much he had left. He had just enough to pay for the three of them. No big deal.

"They're Socs, they always pull stuff at school," Pony replied, shrugging his shoulders as Johnny nodded silently. It was true. It seemed like there was drama at school every day. Sometimes he wished he could just skip like Two-Bit 'n Johnny did, but having a big brother like Darry kind of shot that possibility in the face.

When Pony saw that Dallas was counting his money again, he nudged him gently with an elbow.

"You got the movie tickets. I'll pay for me 'n Johnny, okay?", he said, tossing his cigarette butt to the ground and pulling his own money out of his pocket before he got an answer.

_No,_ Dallas thought idly, _Not okay. Because, you see, that isn't actually part of the plan._

"I got it," Dally interjected, as they reached the Dingo, allowing no room for argument. Pony quirked a brow, but otherwise didn't argue with the older greaser as him and Johnny entered the establishment. Just as Pony had suspected: loud and obnoxious.

"They didn't give you any trouble, did they?" Dallas inquired, deciding to pry further into the Soc conversation.

"Not too much. Just the usual, I'm fine," Pony answered, having to speak slightly louder in order to be heard due to the background noise. He didn't want Dally getting worried over nothing. It wasn't like the Socs were ever going to quit targeting him, or any other greaser. Why bother putting up a fight?

Typical Ponyboy to brush that sort of thing off. It was at times like this when the blond wished more than ever that he could pull his boyfriend into a bruising, minute-long kiss. Just to show everyone who they were _really _messing with. But he knew that he couldn't do that, and the fact angered him at times.

As they slid into a booth, Dally waited impatiently for service.

"What about you Johnnycakes?" Dallas asked for the sake of conversation. The dark-haired boy hadn't hardly spoke. Not that it was abnormal for Johnny to keep his mouth shut… But still.

"Huh? Oh, I didn't go to school today, but... No, not really," Johnny replied, shrugging. Because he was always with one of the guys when he walked, he wasn't usually faced with any trouble. None that Two-Bit or Dally or one of the other guys couldn't handle, anyway.

Pony on the other hand just loned it; and practically put himself on a platter for some Soc to devour.

Er, _devour_? That didn't seem like the right word. _Cut up_, let's go with that.

As often as he could, though, Dallas walked with Pony. Which was some kind of improvement.

After a waitress finally made her way over, Dallas ordered a coke for himself and looked around to see if there were any greasers he was familiar with. There didn't appear to be, unfortunately, and he frowned slightly. When the waitress left with their orders (which Dally didn't pay much attention to) Dallas lit a cigarette, wondering how long it would take for management to get pissy.

~.~.~.~.~.~

The three of them weren't at the Dingo for too long. Probably due to the fact that Dallas had noticed Pony's discomfort and cut their time there short. Which Pony was very grateful for.

Once they had exited the greaser hangout, the three began to walk the street in a seemingly non-targeted, wandering sort of fashion. Pony wasn't sure where they were going next. It would be getting dark soon, so he assumed back to his house. Though, considering it was a Friday, he could conceivably stay out later without getting into too much trouble.

During their random walk through town, Dallas noticed that they were getting dangerously close to Shepard's territory. And while normally that wouldn't be an issue, he couldn't stand to have a run in with anyone and ruin his plan for the night. However, he didn't turn themselves off the path they were on, instead opting to walk quicker, as if they actually had a bigger purpose besides aimless wandering.

Luckily, when they finally started turning towards the lot, the only person that Dallas could see that appeared to be stumbling towards them — and otherwise acting like an idiot — was Two-Bit Matthews. Dallas smirked as the older greaser neared them, loudly greeting them as if he wanted the whole world to know of this chance meeting between good friends.

Pony let a grin come onto his face as Two-Bit came into view, and he laughed under his breath when the redhead shouted out their names. Good ol' Two-Bit. It was very possible that he was drunk, though he wouldn't be too surprised if he was sober. With Two-Bit it tended not to matter. He put up the same crazy antics no matter his state of sobriety.

"Hey, Two-Bit," Johnny greeted, as he came closer, and Pony echoed in a similar manner.

Pony was beginning to notice that they did that a lot. Him and Johnny. One boy would say something, and then other would echo it. _Huh. Weird._

"Whatcha doin' out here?"

Dallas looked at the male with the rusty side burns and, after a period of odd silence, motioned for him to answer.

Two-Bit proceeded to make a big deal of pretending to think seriously about what he was doing. "I was at Buck's for a while, when I decided to head on over to your house," he said after a considerable amount of time, pointing at Ponyboy. "What about y'all?"

The youngest greaser shrugged. "Just wandering," he replied, before adding on, "We went to a movie, and to the Dingo,".

"We could probably go with you to my house," he suggested. They had gone pretty much everywhere there was to go that night.

Following Pony's suggestion, Dallas spoke up quickly.

"Actually I was hoping we could go see the sunset in the lot…?"

He looked at his boyfriend with genuine nervousness, asking permission from the teen.

Ponyboy blinked. If he were drinking something, he might have choked on it. Dally's expression was just as unusual as his words had been. Sincere and slightly nervous.

"Yeah, sounds nice," Pony finally replied, with a bright smile, once he had convinced himself that he wasn't merely hearing things. He nudged Dally with his shoulder and leaned on him slightly; something he tended to do often.

Johnny grinned.

Dallas was smarter then he got credit for.

It all made sense now; screw up Pony's sunset, take him to watch a new one. Plus a movie and food, which, even on their own would've been more than enough of an apology for Pony. For whatever reason, Johnny was glad - very glad - that Dallas was going to do this with Pony. He wasn't too sure why. Maybe because he knew that his friend deserved quality time with his boyfriend…

Or maybe because he was happy that Dally was getting to see one himself.

"Well… I guess I'll go with Two-Bit, then."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

After Two-Bit and Johnny had left, Dallas started sauntering over to the lot, enjoying the fact that they were now alone and the day had passed without incident. When reaching the lot and finding a comfortable position to sit in, Dally stretched out, ready to see what the fuss was about with the sunset. Honestly, he didn't expect much.

But afterwards, Ponyboy would receive the gift that Dallas had been saving all afternoon.

Ponyboy just couldn't knock the smile off of his face. It was one of his, "I-can't-believe-this-is-happening" grins.

Pony led Dallas to the same spot Johnny and him had been in the last night; it had the best view. Once Dallas had gotten comfortable, he sat himself down beside him.

He looked up at the sky, taking in its orange-ish hues. It was still far from the horizon, but was slowly transitioning downward, causing the dusky blue sky to melt and morph into a golden-yellow.

Pony moved his gaze over to Dally, and — deciding that there were no people within eyeshot — leaned on him further, kissing him softly for a moment. He was happy to have the opportunity to do so, too. The movie theatre and the Dingo weren't safe places to steal a kiss, even a quick one. _No_ public place was really a safe place.

But here, his lips could linger.

It calmed Dallas, too, as it was hard to go all day without a kiss from Pony. For whatever reason, his kisses tended to pacify him.

Dally looked up into the sky, his lips still tingling, and he attempted to focus on the colors that mixed in the sky.

Dally grabbed Ponyboy's hand, turning away from the pink sky long enough to look into the emerald orbs that could hypnotize the hood in his weaker moments. They were glistening and vibrant, as he gazed at the setting sun.

Facing the orange and purple hues again, he ran his thumb up and down Pony's hand, giving it a small squeeze as he wondered what he should say, if anything. Pony let out a breath. Watching the sun set was so relaxing to him; having Dally there just made it that much nicer. He was wearing no jacket; though this time around... He couldn't say that he was cold.

"This is the best part..." Pony murmured, in a barely audible tone, his dream-like gaze still locked on the colors in the sky. The sun was almost completely down, the bottom of it was hovering just slightly above the horizon. Dally watched the sky intently, not quite sure what to expect. This was definitely a new experience for him, and honestly it wasn't so bad, thus far.

The pinks and purples blended together with the burnt orange color in the sky and danced around the horizon. The colors repeated the process several times, blending and separating before completely dissolving in a golden, mist-like hue, leaving the sky inky and black.

Dallas hummed softly, finding that the end result left a bit to be desired in his mind.

Pony sighed, and his eyes lingered on the darkened sky for a few moments after the color had been stolen away. That was probably the most beautiful sunset he'd ever seen; possibly just due to the fact that Dallas was there, holding his hand throughout every moment.

The emerald-eyed greaser played with Dally's shirt cloth for a moment, tugging on it, before pressing his lips to Dallas' once more, this time for longer then the last occasion. Pony felt so... Good. He felt full of an emotion he could only label as love.

"Thank you," he murmured, against the older greaser's lips after pulling away.

Dallas looked down, avoiding Pony's eyes.

"I have something for you," he whispered.

Pony couldn't help the slight look of confusion that spread across his face at Dallas' words. He followed Dally's hands closely with his gaze as he reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out a... Necklace? No, it was his ring. His famous, signature ring, that had been passed around and thrown back at him countless times. He had put it on a chain.

Pony smiled instantly, as Dallas proceeded to drape the chain around his neck, clasping it up and kissing him gently afterwards.

"It's beautiful... I love it. Thank you, Dally," Pony responded, touching the ring — or, pendant, in this case — with his fingers, examining it. He smiled, pressing a short kiss to Dallas' lips again.

Dally smiled crookedly, looking at the dying grass instead of at his boyfriend. The emotion was too... Emotional, for him. He didn't really know how to handle it the right way.

"... Ready to go home?" he asked after a moment of silence passed, standing up. not letting go of Ponyboy's hand yet. He figured he wouldn't need to until they exited the lot.

"Yeah, let's head back," he murmured.

The night had been wonderful. Perfect, even. Well, besides the Dingo, maybe, but that didn't matter at this point. A perfect ending to a day full of school and bothersome Socs.

The two of them walked silently back towards the Curtis residence, images of the sunset still burned into the back of their minds.

* * *

**Well? What did you think? :)**

**Reviews are greatly appreciated! **

**So...**

**Write one! Pretty please? :D**

**Also... Don't get used to the happiness that somehow found it's way into this chapter. **

**It. Won't. Last. **


	3. Always Knock, Johnny

**Here it is, at last! Chapter 3! :D**

**Sorry that this took so long, guys. Life has been hectic. :P**

**Be warned that later on in the chapter there will be some slight mature content. :)**

* * *

"Soda, why are the eggs... _Purple_?" Pony inquired, making a face at his brother's cooking.

"Cause they're fuuunnn! They taste just the same as normal eggs, Pone," Soda replied, shoveling the food into his mouth. He had work today, along with Darry, which sucked, considering it was the weekend.

Pony just pushed the mysteriously tinted eggs around on his plate, deciding that he would just wait for Soda to leave so that he could eat chocolate cake for breakfast instead. Darry sighed from across the table.

"_Eat_ your food, Pony."

Unwillingly, the youngest greaser took a forkful of the eggs into his mouth, finding that no, they did not taste like normal eggs. They tasted like food coloring. The eggs were so purple they were practically black.

Once Soda had finished, he took both his plate and Darry's into the kitchen, setting them into the sink, before making a rapid dash to take a shower and get dressed. Darry, on the other hand, was already ready for work, and was heading out the door.

"Be good, Pony. Two-Bit's probably gonna come over soon to watch ya"

Pony made another face. He loved Two-Bit and all, but why? Why him? Even though it made sense, he still didn't like the fact that Darry always set it up that way. Darry, for whatever reason, still wasn't all too jolly about leaving Pony alone with Dallas for a whole day. Which was _ridiculous_...

Yet... Somewhat accurate.

But all Two-Bit did when he was over was drink all the beer in the fridge and watch Mickey. Oh well, maybe Johnny or Dallas would come over later.

Soda was heading out the door when he grabbed Pony up in a hug, squeezing him tight and setting him down. Soda's having a huggy day...

"What's this, Pone?" Soda inquired, picking up the pendant of Pony's necklace in his fingers.

"Dally's ring, he gave it to me yesterday," The emerald-eyed greaser responded.

"Aw, cuuuttteee~! Love you, Pony!" Soda replied, in a sing-songy tone as he dashed out the door.

_Now to get the cake out of the fridge. _

_~.~.~.~.~.~_

"Good day Mr. Curtis, fine weather we're having, is it not?" Two-Bit greeted, eagerly, as he walked inside. Ponyboy rolled his eyes at Two-Bit's mock-formality, though there was a grin on his face.

"Hey Two-Bit," he greeted, bringing the plate with his slice of chocolate cake on it to the couch, setting it on the coffee table.

Two-Bit made his way to the couch as well, sliding onto it beside Pony with comfortable ease.

"Dally ain't here yet? Tsk."

"I'm not sure you're all here either, Two-Bit," he retorted, mockingly. Pony wasn't sure why Two-Bit would've assumed that Dally was there either — it was still fairly early in the morning — but he just rolled his eyes again at the redhead, as he took a bite of chocolate into his mouth.

Two-Bit didn't know why he assumed Dallas would be there, either. Something about how the two were interacting the other night made him think they were in that phase in the relationship where they were inseparable. 'In love,' even.

_Love? Conversation topic! _Two-Bit thought to himself, tilting his head.

"Ouch! Ponyboy, don't you care for other people's feelings?" Two-Bit rested a hand over where he assumed his heart might be, somewhere over his chest. When he was done being dramatic, he shook his head, wondering how anyone could live without his hilarity.

Two-Bit started pulling random strands of Pony's hair and making them stick up at strange angles as he went on nonchalantly. "What did y'all do yesterday? Scar Johnnycakes for life?"

Pony cocked a brow.

"No, you know what we did," He responded, making futile attempts to swat Two-Bit's hands away while forking bits of cake into his mouth. "We went to see a movie and then went to The Dingo," he added, knowing full and well what the other was making reference to.

"And... What are you doing to my hair?" He demanded, setting his cake down to slap Two-Bit's hands away.

Two-Bit pouted as Ponyboy both neglected to include the information he so desired to know and swatted his hands away before he finished his 'masterpiece'.

"Yeah, I know that," he said simply, deciding to wait for Ponyboy to turn around before going back to the merciless hair torture. "But I mean, you two went somewhere after that didn't you?"

Two-Bit didn't usually pry in the other guys' lives (he didn't really need to, of course...), but he was always nosy when it came to Ponyboy. He loved bugging the kid, especially about his relationships. He was glad Pony was dating Dally and not, say Johnny, because it just wouldn't be nearly as much fun to embarrass him.

"Yes, we went to watch the sunset. Which, you also know," Pony said, huffing a breath when he felt Two-Bit begin to play with his hair again. Honestly, there wasn't much more to tell in this situation. And even if there was, hell if Two-Bit was ever going to pry it out of him.

"You can stop that now. If you _want_," Pony muttered, sarcasm heavy in his tone. No point in slapping his hands away, he'd already proven that doing so was but a small obstacle in his... Whatever it was he was doing.

Two-Bit almost hesitated, before merrily continuing to fuck up Ponyboy's greased back hairstyle, a smirk on his face.

"C'mon now, Pone, why you gotta fight me? Dallas watched a _sunset? _Sure. Tell me what really happened." Two-Bit said, leaning back, finally satisfied with how he had styled the younger boy's hair, which frankly couldn't be classified as 'styled' at all.

"Yes. Dallas _watched_ a _sunset_," he replied, firmly, blinking as a long tendril of auburn hair fell into his gaze. He puffed it back with a breath of air and set his cake plate back down on the table, having finished his slice.

_Damn Two-Bit, _the young greaser scolded, mentally._ Now I have to fix my hair... _

"Before you go all girly obsessor on your hair, just tell me what happened after the sunset ended." Two-Bit said, holding up a hand as if that would stop Ponyboy from fixing his hair. He figured that it was, at the very least, worth a short.

Two-Bit wondered briefly if maybe nothing actually happened. Maybe Ponyboy was telling the truth, they watched the sunset and went home, the end.

... Nah. Not likely.

Ponyboy huffed again. Damn Two-Bit. It wasn't like anything crazy went down, but it was none of his business, anyway.

"The sunset ends. He gives me his ring," Pony paused, lifting up the chain for only a split-second before shoving it under his shirt cloth again.

"...I go home. End of story, are you happy now?" He said, pouting as he shoved the older greaser's hand away and proceeded to fix his hair the best he could without a mirror.

"Awwww!", Two-Bit squealed, pulling Ponyboy into a suffocating hug. "You're like Dally's wife or something now, right? Hm... I woulda thought he had gotten you a rape whistle. Or something weird like that," he mumbled in the younger male's ear.

The auburn-haired greaser could feel his breath. He squirmed, trying to escape from his hold. _Too_ _close_, _too close..._

"Are you in _loooooove_?" Two-Bit asked, pulling him back a little and looking in his eyes.

Pony blinked. Both at Two-Bit's serious expression and, mainly, his words.

"That's none of your concern..." He murmured, a raging blush suddenly decorating his face.

For a minute, the beer loving Greaser didn't know how to react. Blush, dismissive response. That was _basically_ a yes...

Processing... Processing...

Two-Bit grinned. _Success. _ "You are! You _are_! I knew it. I called it," Two-Bit practically shouted, making Pony's ears ring. He was still squeezing him close, in a crushing embrace.

"Well, At this rate I guess it's about time Darry gives you the talk, so you and Dallas don't have a million babies..."

"Two-Bit!" The young greaser exclaimed, his eyes widening as he finally struggled out of Two-Bit's grip, getting himself situated next to him on the couch.

Ponyboy desperately wanted the subject to be changed. His blush was progressing at an alarming rate, and... This was getting uncomfortable...

"Have you told him, _Mr. Blushy-face_?"

Pony blinked again, before quickly redirecting his gaze to the floor.

"...I tell him," he murmured, in a barely audible tone.

"Okay... But does he _really _get it?" Two-Bit inquired, legitimately curious for a moment.

_Did_ Dallas really get it? Probably not. Maybe.

Pony threw out _I love you'_s on occasion. Dally just never usually... Said it back.

Something occurred to Ponyboy right then. Had Dallas _ever_ said it? Even once?

He looked down again. _He couldn't remember any time when- _

"Like, sex! Yeah! In the dirty throes of passion... Is it slow and passionate, like you? Or is it rough, and fast? I believe that's the true test of your love."

Pony made a "ʘ_ʘ" face,

"What the hell, Two-Bit? Shut up!" He scolded, his blush returning to it's full intensity. Pony crossed his arms then, looking away from the redhead beside him.

_Private_ topic. Very, _very_, private. Then again, one that Dallas would probably have no issue with discussing, unlike the sensitive younger greaser.

"Oh, hah, I guess we'll keep that between us three." Two-Bit joked. "C'mooooon! Tell me! _TELL ME! _Please?"

All Pony could get out was a slur of _no's, shut up's, _and_ stop's _before Two-Bit had him practically pinned to the couch.

"I just wanna know so I can blackmail you forever..."

"_No_, Two-Bit, get offa me!" Pony scolded, trying and failing at shoving the older greaser away.

Just as Two-Bit was about to say something else, leaning in even closer to the struggling greaser beneath him, Dallas burst through the door.

~.~.~.~.~

Upon catching sight of the two, his mind promptly blanked and his sight tinged with red.

Dallas felt like rushing over and picking Two-Bit up by the collar and bashing his head in. Quite honestly, he wished to do much worse than that. He wanted to harm the male so badly his great grand children will suffer.

The rational part of Dally's brain, which spoke in Johnny's voice oddly enough, told him that sane people probably didn't think like this. He told his rational self to go fuck himself because Dammit, Two-Bit, What the actual FUCK?!

"The fuck is going on here?!"

_Thank fucking god, _Pony thought, as Dallas burst through the door. Fortunately, his booming voice was enough for Two-Bit to leap off of the flustered teen, which Pony was thankful for. Though, soon enough, Pony felt almost frightened. Dallas looked like his blood was boiling, and it was intimidating to him. He would hate to be Two-Bit right then...

"He was interrogating me, against my will..." Pony muttered, shooting Two-Bit an annoyed glare. He wisely chose to leave out the part about sexual questions...

"But I'm alright," he said, sighing.

"For fucks sake, Two-Bit! The hell is wrong with you?" Dallas roared at the older male who was now standing before him. Dally was ready to bitch him out, knowing full well that Two-Bit was too lazy to fight back. And if Dallas hit the other greaser, pony certainly wouldn't be pleased. "Why were you on top of him like that? Were you even thinking?"

At that moment, Pony began to realize that Dallas probably hadn't even heard him. Or, at least, he chose to ignore the teen's words.

Two-Bit rolled his eyes, though he quickly realized that wasn't a good idea, seeing a fire behind the blond's eyes ignite. While it was true, the redhead typically wouldn't fight anyone in the gang, he hadn't really done anything that wrong besides joked around with Ponyboy. And he was dead set on defending himself.

If push came to shove...

"Have something you wanna say, man?" Dallas asked, his voice dropping dangerously low. So much so, that Pony gulped.

"_I might._"

G_od dammit, Two-Bit, wrong answer..._

Pony wasn't about to see Two-Bit get beaten for just being... Two-Bit. Cocky, _inappropriately curious_ Two-Bit. Sure, he had been getting a little bit too up-close and personal.

But if Dally started hitting him...

"Alright, that's enough!" Pony interjected, placing himself between the two greasers. It probably wasn't the brightest idea, but he knew that Dallas wouldn't run the risk of hitting him while trying to get to Two-Bit.

"Dally, I'm _fine_. Two-Bit was just playing around, he didn't mean anything by it, I assure you,".

The young teen whirled around and faced Two-Bit, who at this point was growing testy as well, Pony could see.

"You both know this is unnecessary. You're friends, right?"

Pony paused, and his voice got softer, if only slightly.

"_Please_ don't fight,".

Two-Bit sighed, breaking first. Of course, he wasn't very mad in the first place. "Yeah, yeah. Of course, Pony," Two-Bit had said, looking down at the teen for a moment with a lighthearted smile.

Dallas however glared hatefully at Two-Bit, burning a hole through him for even daring to cross him. He looked at Ponyboy, his eyes softening a bit. "Fuck... I need a cigarette." he growled, storming outside, already lighting a cancer stick before he was even out the door completely.

Two-Bit smiled at Ponyboy sheepishly before retreating to the bathroom with a weak, "Sorry Pone,".

_It isn't your fault_, Pony wanted to say, _You didn't do anything wrong._

But he was already gone. For the moment, at least.

Ponyboy sighed. He had come to the conclusion that it was 100% impossible for Dallas not to be mad at something; be it himself, Two-Bit, the world, a specific circumstance...

Otherwise, it would... Throw the universe out of balance, or something.

Pony had to admit, it was incredibly frustrating. Especially when something like this happens... But he couldn't necessarily blame Dallas. It was just who he was. He wasn't going to change anytime soon, Pony didn't expect him to. If he did that... He just wouldn't be _Dallas_ anymore.

At least this time he had an actual reason to be peeved, even if it was a nonsensical one.

Besides... Wasn't it better to see that he cared, even if it was through passionate anger, then to have him feel nothing at all?

It didn't matter. They had had a great night... Why ruin it with a troubled morning?

Pony sat himself down on the couch, deciding, after a short debate with himself, against going outside to join Dallas. It would probably be best to wait for him to come back inside on his own, anyway.

~.~.~.~.~

"You want me to leave now that Dallas is here?" Pony heard Two-Bit say, as he returned from the bathroom.

Pony shrugged. "If you want to. I don't mind if you stay or go," he replied, casually. But the more he thought about it, the more he began to feel like it would be better if the redhead left. Just... Considering Dally's mood, and what had just happened.

Nonetheless, he wasn't about to tell his friend to beat it.

"You didn't have to apologize, by the way. It wasn't your fault,"

Two-Bit leaned in the doorway, contemplating his options. On one hand, Darry might give him hell later for leaving the two lovers home alone. Then again, Johnny was bound to show up soon. Plus Dallas probably wasn't in the mood for any more jokes. The eighteen year old nodded in understanding at Ponyboy's last uttered thought before responding as he slowly headed for the door.

"I figure I should have. You know _he_ won't."

Two-Bit was serious when he said this, and for whatever reason his words made Pony shift a little bit on the couch. He didn't know why it had, really; it was the truth, after all. But something about it...

He was about to utter a "Thanks, Two-Bit," but again the older greaser vanished before he could speak.

The teen sighed again, leaning back into the couch. He didn't like to see Two-Bit serious. It just... Wasn't normal. And because it was such a rare occurance, it made everything he said or did while serious seem twenty-times more intense then if he wasn't.

Watching Two-Bit fly past, Dally felt himself have conflicting emotions. He wondered if Pony would be mad at him. Obviously it was his fault Two-Bit left, right? He sighed, stomping out his cigarette and going inside.

"Hey," the emerald-eyed greaser heard Dallas mumble, as he returned inside. He sat himself down beside Pony on the couch, draping his arm around his frame.

"Hi," Pony replied, letting himself lean onto the other.

He wanted to say something; he didn't know what to say. He didn't know whether to say, "It's okay,", or to ask what Dallas was thinking when he nearly assaulted his close friend. So he chose to say nothing at all, at least for the moment. Or untill something else came up. He had to do that, with Dallas... Just keep his mouth shut to prevent any furthur squabbling.

Dally wasn't sure if he was in his right frame of mind at the moment. He knew it wasn't okay. He had kinda fucked up again. Minorly?

To be honest, he wasn't sure how badly. He just knew he had fucked up.

He couldn't think of what to say, and while he knew he should probably say something deep and meaningful, or at least give a half-assed apology, he couldn't.

"What do you want to do today?" Dallas asked curiously. Maybe it would change the subject completely. Maybe it would make Ponyboy forget that he was dating the worlds's biggest fuck up.

_"_I don't know," Pony replied, shrugging slightly. He hadn't really thought about it. There weren't any new movies out other then '_Harper'_, which they had already seen, and he wasn't too keen on the idea of just wandering the streets for trouble. So he wasn't sure.

"Maybe Johnny'll come over later..." Pony thought, aloud, his mind trailing off to someplace.

Dallas nodded.

It was still pretty early, though, and it might be a bit longer before the two could expect to see Johnny there... Right?

The blond male grabbed Pony's full attention when he softly began to kiss his neck.

"When's the last time we were here alone..?"

And immediately, Pony became aware of his older counterpart's intentions.

The teen didn't respond verbally, rather, he shifted on the couch, in order to give Dallas more ease while kissing him. Part of Pony felt uneasy about the idea of doing anything sexual at that particular moment. Considering Johnny could pop in at any moment...

But part of him _really_ wanted to just forget that his best friend even existed.

And it was true. The two of them hadn't been alone in a while.

Dallas noted the fact that, besides moving a bit, Pony didn't respond much to his advance. Of course, his didn't flat out reject him, either, so that was good. Dally cupped the side of Ponyboy's face and licked the younger male's bottom lip teasingly - rewarding him a soft utterance from the younger male - before kissing him, taking advantage of his slightly parted mouth.

Something in the back of Ponyboy's mind was telling him that this was still a bad idea, though he made best attempt to silence the distant voice, placing a cautious hand on his lover's knee.

_Johnny, stay away for a while..._

Dallas started trailing kisses down Pony's jawline, his hands dropping to the bottom hem of his shirt, fingertips tracing his skin underneath the fabric, making his skin burn. Dallas moaned, lightly, hoping to get the younger more interested. And, as it turned out, that was enough to make Ponyboy practically melt. Quickly, Dally decided to pull Ponyboy on top of himself, making him straddle his hips.

Pony bit the inside of his lip slightly as Dally continued to work kisses over his jaw and to the corners of his mouth, and it was enough to get him to let his hands wander over the older male's chest, his fingers finding themselves under the cloth of his shirt. Pony hesitantly turned his head, though as Dally's lips only followed his jaw, the younger greaser pulled back slightly, making a soft humming sound and pressing his lips to Dallas', feeling the concern for his friend slowly dissolve away.

Dally made quick work of ridding Ponyboy of his shirt, dropping it on the ground beside them. He arched his back, grinding his hips against Pony's, trying to cause as much pleasant friction as possible.

Toying with the button on Pony's jeans, Dallas bucked his hips again, moaning loudly to get a rise out of his boyfriend.

Pony was now just as excited as Dallas was, and as he began to grind his hips, the younger teen shifted his weight, effectively causing a pleased moan to escape his lips. He was beginning to really be glad that Dally suggested this.

The emerald-eyed teen broke the kiss, regaining some of the oxygen he had lost and looking down, assisting Dallas with his jeans button.

"Dally..." The boy half moaned, half-murmured, before pressing his lips onto Dallas' once more.

~.~.~.~.~.~

Meanwhile...

Johnny had been lingering in the lot for a while now. He had gotten out of his house as early as he could - as always - but decided not to rush immediately to Pony's house. He was over there nearly all the time, and sometimes he felt like he should give the others some time. Besides, the only person there would be Pony, probably. Maybe Dally or Two-Bit, too. Someone watchin' him while his brothers worked. Johnny didn't see why Darry didn't just as him to do it...

"Johnny?!", Pony exclaimed, leaping quickly off of a very... _Dazed_, Dallas Winston. A Dallas Winston who seemed to have no idea what had just occured. One minute he had Pony on top of him, finally grinding back like he meant it, and the next he had jumped off and was redressing. Hearing a mumbling, Dally turned to see a blushing Johnny Cade stuttering out apologies as he stood there, having just come in.

_Damn._

"Uh, um! I, uh... _sorry_!" Johnny muttered, choking on his words as a deep shade of pink coated his face. His eyes were as wide as saucers.

Never again would Johnny not knock before entering the house.

"Hey Johnny." The blonde said casually, adjusting himself to appear presentable. He gave a small wave as if to say, 'I _so_ was not about to fuck Pony before your very virgin eyes'.

Pony had at this point gotten his zipper and button done back up, and was pulling his shirt back over his head. He was, needless to say, slightly frustrated at the universe at that point.

"Uh, sorry about that, Johnnycake...", Pony muttered, his own blush just as furious as his friend's. Dallas, for some unfathomable reason, seemed to be acting as if nothing had ever happened. Which, actually made some sense. How many times had he been fucking some broad at Buck's, only to have a drunk stumble in on them?

"Er, no, _I'm_ sorry. Shoulda knocked..." Johnny's voice trailed off, and he averted his gaze over to the off television. "Erm, do you, uh, want me to just... Go..? Or..."

The boy was reduced to speechless, practically. _Holy shit._ He would have been just fine with going his entire life without seeing... Whatever he just saw.

Dallas listened with slight interest as the best friends exchanged apologies left and right. When Johnny brought up leaving, Dally was half tempted to say, 'yes, and take your girlfriend with you,'.

Admittedly, it wouldn't be the best thing to say.

"You don't have to leave. We're done."

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**You thought you were getting a lemon didn't you? **

**Patience, dear followers. The sexytimes shall come eventually. Eventually... ;)**

**Please leave a review, pretty please? 3**


	4. Liar Liar

Hello all. I know, I know, it's been too long. Me and Mrs. Snarkling both apologize for the amount of time it's taken to get this chapter up for you - really, it's mainly my bad. But please do be looking forward to more chapters; we promise that they'll be coming more regularly from now on.

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"Hey, Two-Bit, can I talk to you?", Pony had asked, somewhat hesitantly, from his spot on the couch. Currently it was just the two of them in the house. Dallas had left very shortly before; he had run out of cigs again. He offered to bring Pony along, but he opted to just stay home, as he had done the last time. He had stuff to discuss with Two-Bit, anyway; and he didn't expect to get any better opportunities to talk with him in private.

Two-Bit tilted his head, a small smile falling on his face. "Sure!" he said cheerfully. He didn't know what the conversation was about, but he had a feeling it was going to be deep, and meaningful, and Goddamn serious. So he needed to get his jollies in now, before it would be too late, judging by the expression upon the younger male's face.

"Well..."

Pony started thinking about how to phrase his words. He had trouble with that a lot... Sorting his thoughts out into sentences without sounding like an idiot.

"Remember what we were talking about earlier? You know... When Dally and you almost fought," The younger greaser finally started, leaning forward a little more in his seat.

Two-Bit nodded, his happiness fading nearly instantly. So it was going to be one of _those _talks.

He kept a smile on and tried to think of something clever to say. Maybe he could end the subject early if he said the right thing. "Well, I was just messing around..." he muttered, realizing that while it wasn't the best thing to say, it was the truth, and the truth was better than nothing.

"Well, yeah. I mean, I know, but..."

Pony mentally slapped himself for fumbling over his words, and he redirected his gaze from Two-Bit to the ceiling.

"I've just been thinking about it," he said, quieter now.

Two-Bit could understand that. Somewhat. He hadn't actually ever been in a situation anywhere close to similar, and he didn't particularly think about Pony's very often, but in a way he guessed it made sense.

"Okay." he didn't know any encouraging words of wisdom to offer, but he did know how to keep a conversation going.

"I'm just not sure what I should do about it. I mean... If anything. It's been bothering me..."

Pony, being Pony, had jumped to the conclusion that it was something that needed to be payed attention to. That it was important.

Wasn't it?

To Pony it was. Verbal confirmation that Dallas loved him. Really loved him, as more then a possession.

But even so... The thought that Dallas were merely possessing him seemed irrational. Hell, a lot of Pony's thoughts were irrational, even to him. But he couldn't help but think them, and his hyperactive imagination seemed to get the best of him quite often in situations such as this one.

It was quite possible that Pony knew that Dally loved him. Maybe he just wanted to hear him break down his tough-guy barrier and _say_ it.

"Some people just aren't the affectionate type..." Two-Bit stated. He couldn't really think of any way to make the situation better. He would have expected Dallas to have said the magic words by now. How hadn't he? He felt bad himself, knowing that a typical relationship between Dally and one of his Greasy girls would have had the word 'love' thrown around more than 'cigarette'.

"Yeah... I guess not," Pony murmured, shrugging slightly. Though his gaze directed down at his lap showed that he remained unconvinced. "Affectionate" didn't have anything to do with it. "Affectionate" was going down a whole other alley. But it was somewhat true; Dallas wasn't an uber lovey-dovey guy. He didn't show affection in any form, really; in public it was necessary, but even when they were just around the gang, he remained virtually emotionless (besides anger, of course).

But nonetheless... Three words wasn't too much to ask. Was it?

"Have you tried anything that might persuade him to say it?" Two-Bit asked. He wasn't sure what he was implying. How much could Pony give, exactly? Dallas had to know that Ponyboy wasn't like his other relationships, and so things wouldn't be the same. And thus, Pony would clearly be in need of a little reminder from time to time that he was still worth it though.

"Well... I guess I have, yeah," Pony replied.

If what Two-Bit meant was saying "I love you" to him, then yes. Wouldn't that be enough of a prompter? That's what's supposed to happen. Somebody says "I love you", and then somebody else says "I love you, too,". That's how it goes.

Right?

Of course he had. Pony wasn't the type to complain without putting forth effort. Two-Bit leaned back onto the couch and scratched his head.

"Does he at least say it during sex?", he joked, half-heartedly.

Ponyboy would have given Two-Bit some sort of glare, or at least let a raging blush coat his face, had his mind been in it's normal state. But he was too deep in thought to be embarrassed. He just sat there and shook his head.

"Nope," he replied, following a small, inaudible sigh.

Two-Bit frowned.

"Damn." He looked at Ponyboy, examining the younger male's face for clue's as to ho this was making him feel. It was pretty obvious it wasn't making him _happy_, but he wanted to know how serious Pony was about the relationship. He didn't exactly want to ask, of course, he'd already over stepped so many times.

"Maybe you should just ask him if he does..?"

"Yeah. But... I mean..."

Pony paused. He was slowly growing irritated with his own mind. His thoughts were just getting more and more fucking depressing.

"Should I have to?"

_No, no you shouldn't have to at all, _Two-Bit thought to himself.

He was so frustrated with this conversation. Poor Pony. Three stupid words that get tossed around like nothing by most people in regular two day flings, and he couldn't get those words, those words so precious to him, out of someone he loved and held so dearly.

"No," Two-Bit whispered. He cleared his throat, trying not to let the depressing tone of the conversation bring him down so much. It was difficult though. "Try making him jealous." Two-Bit said suddenly. It was an idea almost out of nowhere, and a horrible one at that. But in a way it made some sense. If Pony were to get Dallas jealous, Dally could possibly want to let Ponyboy know that he loves him. Maybe.

"Try making him jealous."

Two-Bit's words made Pony look up.

Well... Fuck. That was actually a good idea.

It would be, anyway. If they were dealing with someone who wasn't Dallas Winston.

"Someone would end up getting massacred," The younger greaser replied, shrugging.

Two-Bit stared at the ground and wondered briefly just how stupid he actually was for what he was about to say.

"I think I could take him." he said easily, smiling up at the fourteen year old with eyes he hoped showed genuine care instead of fear.

Pony's eyes widened at Two-Bit's words, and he looked to the older greaser. His gaze met with a sincere smile, and the younger greaser raised a brow.

"Don't tell me you're serious," Pony stated, his shocked facial expression morphing into one of question.

"Two-Bit, he'd probably destroy you," He added, matter-of-factly. If Two-Bit thought that he could face Dally and come out intact, he was out of his mind.

Two-Bit raised an eyebrow and scoffed.

"What? You don't think I could hold my own?" he asked, pretending to be offended. Dallas was by no means indestructible, and Ponyboy sometimes seemed to look over this.

"Well, no, you can. But still... If you two fought, it would get bad. You'd get hurt. Both of you would," Pony said, pausing for a short moment.

"And your friendship would pay for it," the younger greaser added. It was true. Even if Dally were to eventually find out about the whole thing just being a trick... He had a tendency to hold grudges. Even against someone like Two-Bit. Even against someone like Pony.

Sighing, Pony concluded with an, "It isn't worth it."

It wasn't. Sure, Pony wished that Dallas would go ahead and just say those three words. But even if they did try to go through with the jealousy plan, there was no guarantee that doing so would push Dally to admit anything. And he'd rather have Dally not say it at all then say it and not mean anything by it.

Besides, he didn't want Two-Bit getting hurt for him.

The greaser's emerald eyes darkened slightly, giving in to his mind's persistent efforts to depress him.

He'd heard Dallas say those words to Sylvia, before, when she used to linger around. _Sylvia_. The broad that two-timed him so many countless times.

What was keeping him from saying it now?

Maybe it was just time for him to rethink the basis of his and Dally's relationship.

Two-Bit sighed. Ponyboy had a point. Of course he had a point. It was Pony.

Two-Bit wished he could help. He knew though, that there was really nothing that he could do. It was between Dallas and Ponyboy.

"I think the only thing you can really do is talk to him...", Two-Bit said, with a shrugged. "Dally just ain't that good with any emotions but anger."

"Yeah," Ponyboy said, tiredly. "I've noticed."

There was a small sigh followed by a short period of silence, before Pony rested his hand on Two-Bit's shoulder.

"Thanks Two-Bit," he said, managing a smile for the older greaser, though his eyes held their dimmed hues.

As if knowing that the important conversation had just concluded, Dallas walked in. He looked questioningly at both greasers but shrugged it off.

"Hey," he greeted them. He wasn't quite sure what to think, seeing the two sitting so quietly on the couch, as if waiting for his arrival. He decided it was probably nothing, though.

"I think I should be going." Two-Bit announced, standing up and stretching his long limbs. "Until next time, good fellows."

Pony just gave Dally an acknowledging nod as said greaser walked in, though he felt his heart sink a little upon catching sight of him.

Of course, Two-Bit chose to leave at that moment; leaving Pony with the last person he wanted to be alone with at said time.

He wasn't mad at Dally. He honestly wasn't. But seeing him just caused his upsetting thoughts to multiply. Just cause unanswered questions to pound louder in his head.

Dally moved to the couch quickly and sat by Pony, wrapping an arm around him automatically. Judging by the tenseness of his shoulders, and the hard look in his eyes, Dallas could easily tell that his boyfriend was upset about something. He kissed Ponyboy gently on the neck.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

Pony resisted the urge to sigh, and simply pried his gaze from the wall in front of him to glance at Dallas. His eyes were growing grayer by the moment, though otherwise he appeared somewhat... Okay.

"Nothing. My head just hurts," he lied, smoothly.

Well, it wasn't a total lie. He had been thinking so hard over the course of his and Two-Bit's conversation that his temples ached.

Dallas considered questioning Pony further on that subject, but went against it, instead opting to address the matter of the male that had just left.

"What did you and Two-Bit talk about?"

_Damn. _

Pony tried to think up a clever lie fast, though he failed this time around, and just resorted to saying, "Nothing much."

Looking over at Dallas, he tried to think of something else to add... Though words didn't find him. He didn't want to talk about this anymore.

Pony just leaned on Dally, putting his head on the older male's shoulder. He figured that that would be as much reassurance as anything... And besides. He was starting to just want to be close to someone.

Dally scoffed, shaking his head a bit as Ponyboy leaned on him. It was _so _obvious that he was hiding something now. "Liar," he mumbled into the dreamer's neck as he ran a hand through his hair. He tried to keep the bitterness out of his voice. He wasn't starting an argument. They both knew they'd be talking about this later. Just not right now. He was too... Stunned, at the blatant lie.

Ponyboy's brow furrowed a little bit at the word, and he had the urge to stand up, walk into his room, and lock the door at that moment.

But he didn't.

"I'm gonna light up," Pony murmured, as he stood, lifting a cigarette from his pocket and heading to the back door.

Dally wasn't sure if he should follow Ponyboy outside or not. He felt like if he did, they would start arguing. And he didn't want to just yet. However, he also knew that he didn't particularly want to sit inside and wait for him, so the blond pulled himself up off the piece of furniture and followed after. If the hood was being honest with himself, he needed, disparately to blow his top. He'd been holding in so much anger and frustration lately that he felt like he was going to explode. He didn't know how much more he could take.

Dallas let the back door ricochet shut and stood parallel from his boyfriend, crossing his arms and not saying anything. Ponyboy only glanced over at Dallas, once he stepped outside. Irritatance was written clearly on his countenance.

He was going to ask what Dally wanted, though he decided against it soon after. Pony didn't want to fight about anything right now. His heart hurt and his thoughts were buzzing with depressing harmonies. He didn't want to top it off with an argument over something as petty as a conversation between him and a friend. Him and Dally had argued enough lately. Time to cool off.

But at the same time, he knew that Dallas expected some sort of response. Pony just sucked the rest of the nicotine down and stomped the ember out of his cigarette butt.

Dallas didn't know why he couldn't see that coming. Ponyboy wasn't stupid. He wasn't going to fight, either. Not wanting to have wasted a trip outside for nothing, Dallas stepped forward, wrapping an arm around Pony's waist and sighing heavily.

"Dammit," he whispered. He had no idea, not the slightest fucking clue, what had happened. But something had, and it needed fixed. He was drained. He wanted to beat the tar out of someone, and at the same time he just wanted to go to sleep.

He ran his hand through Pony's hair and finally kissed him roughly.

But even he could feel the obligation in the kiss.

Pony kissed Dallas back for a few moments, letting large hands work through his auburn hair.

Within those few moments, his overactive imagination decided to rear it's head again.

Pony wished that they could go longer than a day without having some sort of issue. It was like they had one good day - take the sunset watching experience as an example - and then, to balance things out, they had to have several mishaps shortly after. That was just how it was, with the two of them.

It wasn't a very good way to be.

The younger greaser broke the kiss, gently. He put his hand over Dally's, which was situated around his waist.

Dallas frowned, something he was getting very used to.

"I'm going to Buck's," he stated. He hadn't originally planned on it. But the urge to leave had hit him suddenly. He would stay, of course, if Pony asked him to. But Ponyboy rarely did.

"Okay," Pony replied, as Dallas announced that he was leaving for the night. Pony didn't want him to leave, even with the tenseness that rested between them. Pony didn't want to be alone.

But he wasn't going to say that.

Suddenly, the younger male slipped his fingers into Dally's, looking up at the blonde male with grayed eyes, that held a sincere tone in them.

"I love you."

To that, Dallas raised an eyebrow questioningly.

Ponyboy was expecting a response of a kind... One Dallas wasn't prepared to give.

"I know," he responded.

And the blond pulled away and headed for Buck's, leaving the wounded teen to stand alone.

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